South Korean scientists, apparently unperturbed by reports of events north of the border, have put their inventive efforts into the development of a clever robot vacuum cleaner which can find its way around the room night or day.
Other robot cleaners can get confused, it says here, because their wheel turn measuring systems get fouled up on shag pile carpet or slippy parquet.
The answer, according to Samsung, is a patented video and infrared device linked to a computer containing a digitised picture of the room.
Sound sort of familiar? If it is indeed similar to the terrain-following devices in cruise missiles then we have a whole new set of acronyms:
TERPROM: Terrible problems on the mat
DSMAC: Dirty sod messed all carpets well, you get the picture
TLAM: Tiny little automatic maid
TERCOM: Terrifically engineered robotic computer-operated mother
CALCM: Clever and low-cost cleaning machine
Source: Flight International
